Amber Light
by Cynder2013
Summary: There are more emotions than seven. When a new Power Ring is unleashed on Earth, and the rest of the universe, it'll take more than superheros to stop the destruction. Loosely New 52-verse. Posted: Part 3 of 3.
1. Part 1: UFO

Part 1: UFO

58\. That was the number that sent Leah Jenkinson over the edge. 58% on an English essay, when her first language was English and she'd been writing proper essays for four years, was not acceptable.

Leah put the incriminating essay back on her desk. She clenched her hands into fists, but managed to keep her face impassive. Ms. English (that was actually her real name) finished handing back the essays and went back to her desk to start playing the _Macbeth_ recording that they were listening to.

Ms. English was commonly referred to as "Cruella", though when she was around she was called "Her" in venomous tones. She didn't teach well, she refused to help anyone, and she was an unreasonable marker.

Back to the 58%. Leah had worked her butt off for weeks to write that essay. She'd re-typed so many sentences that her fingers cramped. She'd edited it three times outside of class editing. Yet, she got a 58.

No, Ms. English had given her a 58%, for no good reason. She hadn't even written excuses, just a big, fat 58.

_"I hate Her._" Leah thought suddenly. The words were so delicious that she thought them again.

"_I __**hate **__Her." _

Then she took that hate and did as she always did, bottled it up and put it away where she could never find it again. Her stoic face didn't slip for a second as she shoved the essay into her bag, and then got to work taking notes on ActII with the rest of her class.

* * *

Three hundred and twenty-two meters above the high school, two men hovered and watched the ring they'd been following go into a nosedive.

"Looks like it's found someone." said one of the men. The wind whipping around them blew the end of his red mustache into his mouth and he spat it out without taking his eyes off the ring. "This is my area of expertise; you can go back to your Arctic dream home now." He dove through the air after the speeding ring, leaving a streak of red behind him. The other man just barely stopped himself from snorting.

"As if I'll leave him to take care of anything on his own." he muttered, and he swept his cape behind him and became a blur of red and blue as he flew to catch up with the Red Lantern.

* * *

_"That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold. What hath quenched them hath given me fire. Hark! Peace! It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman-"_

"What's that?" Jack Turok exclaimed, cutting off the recording of 'Lady Macbeth'. The rest of the class, Leah included, turned to see what he was looking at. There were many sounds of surprise. A beam of amber light scanned the outside surface of the window, bleeding through to dance across the faces of everyone looking at it. Leah tilted her head and studied the light with interest.

"Pay attention to the recording." Ms. English ordered when it became clear to her that they were not doing so. Everyone ignored her. The light disappeared and the tiny hovering object that had produced it could be seen backing away from the window.

"What's it doing?" Elizabeth Brown asked.

"What is it?" Jack Turok asked again.

There was a whipping sound and a few people screamed as the object punched through the window, leaving a hole and cracks in the glass not unlike those a bullet would leave.

"It's a ring!" Moses Zabala said, for the people who weren't able to see that for themselves. "Like Green Lantern's!" As the ring flew across the room a few people tried to reach up and catch it. The ring evaded their grasps and came to a hovering stop in front of Leah. She looked at it with interest, ignoring the exclamations of her classmates."

"_Leah Jenkinson of Earth, you have great hate in your heart." _the ring intoned. Leah unconsciously reached out towards the ring. It slipped itself onto the middle finger of her right hand. There was a bright flash of amber light that made the whole class look away.

"_Welcome to the Black Amber Corps."_

* * *

The flash of light would have blinded Guy Gardner if he wasn't used to even brighter lights in the middle of black space. Superman was similarly unaffected.

"That's not good."

Guy nodded in agreement with Superman's comment. The two of them flew towards where the flash of light had come from. Superman had to hold Guy back so that he wouldn't finish what the ring had started and smash through the classroom's window.

Inside the classroom was bedlam. Everyone was exclaiming loudly and most of them were not sitting at their desks. The teacher was trying in vain to restore order. The only person who was completely quiet was the girl with half blue, half brown hair who was looking down at the new black and amber uniform she was wearing. When she sat up straight the two men got a good look at the unfamiliar symbol sitting over her heart.

"This is really not good." Superman corrected himself.

"You're telling me." Guy groaned. "Just wait until the Greens hear about this. We'll be lucky if there isn't a riot."

No-one had noticed the two of them hovering outside the window. When the girl stood up, Superman continued to hold Guy captive and they waited to see what happened next.

* * *

"Oh my gods!"

"Are you, like, a superhero now?"

"Is that yellow or orange?"

"Everyone SIT DOWN!" That was Ms. English. Not surprisingly, no-one listened. She gave up on trying to gain control of the classroom and headed over to the phone, probably to call the office. Or the police. Or a SWAT team.

Leah surveyed the classroom. There weren't any friends here, in fact…

"I hate all of you." she said calmly but firmly.

"Shut up!" Jack Turok said. Everyone shut up. "Sorry, Leah, what did you say?" Leah looked straight at him.

"I said that I hate all of you."

The class now sat in stunned silence. A few people sat down in shock, with varying degrees of successes as they weren't all near seats. Others gasped. Leah turned her gaze on Ms. English, who looked like she was preparing to give a lecture that died in her throat when she met Leah's glare.

"Especially you."

Without another word Leah took her stuff and left the room. Her essay fell to the ground, abandoned behind her.


	2. Part 2: The New Lanterns

Part 2: The New Lanterns

Jack Turok wasn't sure how he got to the roof. He had just followed the trail of misty amber light through some of the custodial areas of the school and ended up opening a door that led to the roof on the back of the building. The three competing auras made it difficult to see at first, but once his eyes adjusted he saw Leah, with her usual clear red overwhelmed by the burnt amber that the ring had given her, facing off with two men, one of whom was a dark red, and the other a mix of bright green and shimmering gold. Jack recognized the red man as the Red Lantern leader who'd refused to talk with a Channel 52 reporter a few weeks before. When the green and gold man stepped to the side, Jack saw the S shield on his chest and had to steady himself with the door frame. His day could officially not get any weirder; Superman was standing on his school's roof.

Leah seemed to be having an argument with Red Lantern, though that could only be seen by looking at his face as she appeared to be as calm as ever. Jack quietly stepped a bit closer, drawing the attention of Superman, who studied him for a moment before turning his attention back to the arguing Lanterns. From what Jack could hear, the argument was going something like this:

"Give me the ring."

"No."

"Hand it over."

"No."

"Hand it over!"

"No."

"Hand over the #^!&amp;ing ring!"

"No."

Superman wasn't interfering but when Red Lantern created a rather threatening club with his ring and Leah formed a sharp-edged sword with her's, there was a race between Superman and Jack to see who could distract the two fighters first.

"Guy." Superman warned.

"Leah!" Jack exclaimed. Both Lanterns looked towards the person who'd called their name.

"Jack." Leah said numbly. "What are you doing here?" She lowered her sword and Jack decided that it was probably safe to stop lurking. He came closer to the group.

"I might have followed you." he admitted. Leah's ring aura became darker, but then changed back so quickly that Jack wasn't sure if it had actually become worst or if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"You should give him the ring." he said. Leah frowned. "It's not good for you."

"Listen to him." said Red Lantern, who had calmed down enough to get rid of his club. "That ring, it's never been seen before. It could do real damage-"

"To what?" Leah interrupted. "To me? That's already— None of you should be worried about me." She discarded her sword and turned to face Jack.

"You should be worried about my orders."

Jack was suddenly encased in a bubble of amber light. In the same second a swirling wormhole of the same light appeared above Leah. She flew through the wormhole, dragging Jack behind her. The last thing Jack saw was Superman and Red Lantern flying after them. Then the end of the wormhole that opened to Earth snapped shut and all Jack saw was blackness.

* * *

Leah stumbled slightly as she landed, the amber bubble that contained the unconscious Jack nearly running into her. She wanted to swear when she saw the bazillion alien faces looking up at her, but she settled for jumping off the stage she'd landed on, causing those closest to the stage to shoot angry looks at her as they scattered. Aside from Jack, everyone in the cavern of a room, which was probably some sort of assembly hall, was a fellow Black Amber, though Leah was the only one carrying around a backpack and a hostage-in-a-bubble.

"Who's Cadet 3-7-2-7-6-9-5?" Leah asked the silent group. Silent groups of people seemed to be happening around her a lot lately.

A humanoid male with white skin and tentacles growing out of his head flew over the crowd and landed in front of Leah. He studied her with his bright yellow eyes. "You're the newest recruit then? I'm Three-Seven-Two, your mentor."

"Leah Jenkinson, your trainee."

"Yer a human, an't ya?" asked a large, vaguely were-cat like male with a scowl on his face. Leah toyed with pretending that she hadn't heard him, she didn't like cats, but she decided not to start a fight that she wouldn't be able to win.

"Yes." she said shortly. The cat-man's scowled deepened.

"I hate humans." he growled. Three-Seven-Two stepped between him and Leah.

"Save it for the ring, Drosk. You can impress the Captain by beating up the new recruit with no training." A few of the other Black Ambers laughed harshly, causing Drosk to scowl even more and start advancing towards Three-Seven-Two. Three-Seven-Two turned his back on Drosk and steered Leah not too quickly out of the cavern and into a narrow hallway.

"He seemed nice." Leah said dryly. Three-Seven-Two let out a disgusted laugh.

"We don't do 'nice' around here. I'd say the possibility of meeting a nice Black Amber is one in three million."

"Are there that many of us?" asked Leah with interest. Three-Seven-Two shrugged and his mouth twisted.

"Hell if I know, there are still rings going out." He started walking down the hallway and Leah followed. Seemingly carved out of stone, the hallway widened and metal doors began to appear, lining the sides of it.

Jack's bubble caught up with them and Three-Seven-Two grunted when it hit him on the back of the head. "Let's put him with the others." he said. Leah tilted her head and looked at him.

"Isn't he _my_ hostage?" she asked. Three-Seven-Two nodded warily, not really sure what she was implying. "So, shouldn't I get to decide where he goes?" Three-Seven-Two thought for a moment.

"I suppose so…No-one else has asked." Leah nodded to indicate that she'd heard. Three-Seven-Two waited, but when she didn't say anything more he asked, slightly sarcastically, exactly where she was thinking of putting him. Leah raised an eyebrow.

"Well, as all Black Ambers hate everyone and their mother, I assume that we don't have dormitories."

"We all have our own rooms. Just for Ambers though, not hostages. "

"Then he can stay in my room, so I can keep an eye on him."

Three-Seven-Two didn't bother protesting, which Leah took to mean that he already knew how stubborn humans could be. That or he really hated the idea and knew that he would figure that out so he didn't feel the need to say anything.

"What space sector are you from?" he asked instead. If Leah wasn't the type of person who read just about everything they could get their hands on then she probably wouldn't have known what he was talking about. As it was, they were soon standing in front of a round door with 2814 written on the centre of it above a clear crystal that was embedded in the metal. Following Three-Seven-Two's instructions, Leah touched her ring to the crystal and stated her name and space sector. The crystal glowed amber and the door rolled open. Leah stepped into a vaguely rectangular room that was about three times the width of the door and contained only a raised area a stone that was probably to be used as a bed.

"Cozy." she commented. "How breathable is the air?"

"22% oxygen. That's what humans need to breathe, right?"

Leah wasn't actually sure if just having oxygen around would be enough for Jack to not asphyxiate when he was released from his controlled atmosphere bubble. Remembering something that she'd read, and hoping that she was remembering it right, she said "Ring, is the air here breathable for humans?"

"_Processing."_ her ring replied. "_Surrounding air is breathable for human beings." _

"Thank you." Leah placed Jack's bubble on the floor of the room and walked back out into the hallway. The door rolled closed behind her and she dispersed Jack's bubble when it was completely shut.

"You'll get furniture after evening meal." Three-Seven-Two told her. "And you're the only one who has access unless you let someone in."

"Great." Leah crossed her arms and looked up at the alien. "I was told you'd be showing me around, telling me how things work here."

"Right. Well, all the rooms for our part of the corps are in this hallway…"

* * *

Luckily, when Jack woke up he didn't sit bolt upright like they do in movies, if he had he would probably have smashed his head on a rock.

In the room his was in, there were a lot of rocks.

He looked around and saw only three things that weren't rock, the two beds, one of which was on the stone floor, Leah's backpack, and Leah herself. Leah was sitting on the bed on the floor, nibbling in the end of her pencil and looking down at her notebook. When Jack carefully sat up Leah raised her head and looked at him.

"I brought you dinner." she said, and then she looked back down at whatever it was that she was working on.

"Where are we?" Jack asked.

"Inside the third moon of Zamaron." Leah answered without looking up. "You really should eat. You were out for four Earth hours."

Jack stood up slowly and took a few steps, all that was needed to reach the stack of crackers that Leah pointed at. He supposed crackers were better than unrecognizable foods he'd heard about prisoners getting. He picked one up and sniffed it before taking a small bite.

He immediately felt full.

He wrapped the thick crackers up in the cloth napkin that Leah had apparently brought them in on, deciding to save them for later, just in case.

"What are you doing?" he asked as Leah erased something that she'd written.

"Writing a bio report." she said. "Becoming a supervillain is no excuse for falling behind on homework."

"Only you would say that." Jack muttered with a smile. Leah looked up and glared sharply.

"You don't know what I'm like." she snapped. She shut her notebook and opened her bag. After putting her notebook away she pulled something out of one of the side pockets and tossed it in Jack's general direction. As Jack caught it, the pills inside of the bottle rattled.

"That fell out of your pocket." She lay down on the mattress and rolled over turning her back on him. "Lights out."

The room went dark. Just by touch, Jack opened the pill bottle and popped one into his mouth, swallowing it dry. He made his way over to the raised bed and pulled the covers over top of himself. His armed twinged and he thanked every medicine-related god he believed in that Leah hadn't held back his penicillin just to be cruel.

* * *

_ "In raging day, in fearful night, we'll never give up our fight! The light in our eyes makes our enemies quake! Love has not conquered us, we're powered by hate!"_

The entire Black Amber Corps, a good 2,000 sentient beings, none of whom were a single planet, gathered around their central power battery in the center of Frua, which was the name of Zamaron's third moon. They all recited their oath together, charged their rings, and then scattered back to their sections of the moon to whatever training they had right after breakfast, just a normal morning. What was not normal was Three-Seven-Two approaching Leah after Recharging and making small talk rather than talking only about training or anything else corps related.

"You've got three stripes already." he commented. Leah snorted.

"I guess humans aren't as stupid as everyone says." she snapped. The horizontal stripes on a black section of the Black Amber uniform, in the area of an arm if they had one, were awarded by the Captain as part of the ranking system. Three-Seven-Two had five bands of amber, three around one bicep and two around the other. That Leah had earned three stripes after only twelve Zamaronian days gained her a lot of hatred from some Ambers, something that was easy to do, and admiration from others, something that was a lot harder.

"We have fights to get to." she reminded. "At least try not to get crushed to a pulp today, I just might not patch you up." They started walking, saving the charge in their rings for beating up their opponents.

"My sister got tired of fixing me up to." Three-Seven-Two said. "I was at a protest when my ring chose me, and the last thing she said to me was that I'd better not get hurt."

Leah had volunteered for shifts in the kitchens and the med bay for her required work time, and Tree-Seven-Two ended up in the latter quite often. He wasn't the best fighting ring slinger, but he was one of the smartest. His work time was usually in the battle room, working on tactics with the Lieutenants, even though he wasn't yet a six-stripe.

When Leah didn't say anything Three-Seven-Two kept talking just to fill time, much to the amusement of people they passed. He talked about his home planet, Numericon, and what growing up in the number-based society was like. He actually didn't get to say a whole lot, the training ring wasn't that far from the battery hall, but Leah learned enough that she knew she'd have trouble if she ever got to go to his planet.

Her subjects were biology and English, not math.

(Jack commented later that that wasn't really a fair assessment seeing as she finished grade 11 math with a 90%. He then had to repeat multiple times that he wasn't stalking her in order to not get an anvil dropped on his head.)

When Leah and Three-Seven-Two arrived at the ring, Leah asked sarcastically if she'd be expected to do an "Earth for Dummies" session before they split up for work.

"Only if you want to." Three-Seven-Two replied. Leah rolled her eyes.

"Let's see how pounded you get, then I can decide if I want to add to your torture." She didn't hate him that much.

In the ring, Lieutenant Struass took a piece of chalk and wrote the pairs for that day's fights on the wall. Struass was basically an oversized red slug with stubby arms, and he had to fly along the wall in order to write all ten pairings. They all crowded around the wall to see who'd be fighting who. Someone whooped when they saw the pair for the first fight.

Leah and Drosk.

While the other eighteen zero-to-five stripers lined the walls, Leah and Drosk advanced to the centre of the ring. Lieutenant Struass listed the rules, basically no killing and no crippling, everything else was allowed, the fight was over when one of them surrendered, and the he slimed back to watch with the others.

"Yer dead human." the were-cat growled, completely ignoring the fact that killing was against the rules. Leah was busy sizing him up, and so just smiled at him sweetly. Drosk roared and ran at her. Seconds later he flew backwards and slammed into the wall, having bounced off the barrier that Leah had created with her ring. A few Ambers had to scattered so they didn't get crushed by five hundred pounds of angry were-cat.

"Gonna have to do better than that _cat._" she taunted. Drosk pushed himself up and, remembering that he too had a ring, flew towards Leah wielding an evil-looking pike. Leah let him get close, and then dove out of the way. "Can't catch me!" They repeated the exercise a few more times, Drosk charging, Leah dodging, Leah taunting, Drosk seeing red and charging again, until Drosk finally got it though his head that Leah wasn't going to stand in one place and let herself be impaled. On his next run he built up walls around Leah to stop her from moving, he even added a roof to keep her from flying out. He was bigger and stronger than Leah would ever be, and Leah would probably have been turned into a shish kebab if she hadn't curled up and ducked a split second before his pike would have hit her. The tip of it sank into the wall of light behind her and, while he tried to get it unstuck, she crawled around his legs and stood up behind him. Using the same trick she'd use later that day, she dropped an anvil on his head. While he was stunned she created a net of chains and surrounded him with it, eventually hanging the net, and Drosk, from the roof. He groaned.

"Do you yield?" Leah asked.

"I do not." Drosk growled. Leah quickly cocooned him in the net and added a noose around his neck.

"And now?"

"I yield." he muttered.

"Pardon?"

"I yield!" he shouted so that everyone in the room could hear. Lieutenant Struass nodded in agreement and Leah dispersed her constructs, dropping Drosk, who got his bearings and stopped himself a foot above the stone floor.

"Next time." he growled at her as they joined the other Ambers. Leah shrugged and turned to watch the next fight.

* * *

Three-Seven-Two ended up winning his fight, though he did end up bleeding from more than a few places. Leah didn't have to tell him about Earth, but she did gripe at him while she was bandaging him up.

"How did you manage to scrape your chest when you fell backwards?" she asked incredulously. He shrugged, and then flinched as she pulled the last bandage tight.

"I guess I don't have to tell you what to do with these." Leah slapped him on the back after he pulled on his shirt and let his uniform come back. "Now get going, you're late."

While Three-Seven-Two hurried out of the almost empty med bay, Leah approached Fina, a Daxamite woman with red hair who was one of the only actual doctors in the corps.

"What is it Leah?" Fina snapped as she finished putting the second arm of a four-armed corpsman in a sling.

"I want a second opinion on something." Leah answered.

Fina tied the last knot and sent the corpsman away with a "Get out of here!" Then she turned to look at Leah. "On what? How long will it take? This is our only break until the next round of fighters comes hobbling in." Leah stepped back.

"Just do a med scan on me. If what I think I found is there, will you swear not to tell anyone?"

"That depends on what it is." Fina replied warily.

"If it's not there, then you don't have to worry about it." Leah insisted. Fina sighed and ordered her ring to conduct the scan. Amber light washed over Leah for about thirty seconds. Then she and Fina both listened as Fina's ring stated the results to them. Leah looked up when the ring stopped talking.

"Now will you swear?" she asked quietly. Fina nodded with a rare look of sympathy on her face.

"I swear by Cythonna's spear not to let anyone know of this unless you allow me to." she promised.

"Thank you." Leah whispered. She blinked and two tears ran down her face. "Oh." she said in surprise as more tears came. Fina sat her down on one of the cots and put a blanket around her shoulders.

"Breath." Fina ordered. Leah complied as best she could and dabbed at her tears with her sleeve.

"Please tell me it's not true." she begged. "Not again." Fina frowned.

"As your friend, you are going to tell me what you're talking about later. As your doctor I'm telling you now, it's true, Leah, you're pregnant."

* * *

Jack was collecting information. This was a hard thing to do since he was never let out except to use the washroom with the other hostages and when he was locked up Leah was hardly ever around. When he did get a chance to ask her questions at the end of the day she did her best to clam up, though he did sometimes get a story or two out of her. The rest of the time he was on his own in their room with nothing but her copy of Macbeth and the pain from his slightly-less-infected Histrelin implant for company. He had started trying to count the days, but had given up a few weeks after his watch had stopped working. At this rate he'd probably have the whole of _Macbeth _memorized before he learned anything that could get him home.

Leah entered the room the night after she'd threatened to smash his head in with an anvil construct and immediately drew a line across the floor with a piece of chalk. The line divided the room in two with a bed in each half.

"As of now you never cross this line when I'm in the room, got it?" Leah snapped.

"Why?" Jack asked. Leah pursed her lips.

"Let me rephrase that, please do not cross this line when I'm in the room." Jack nodded to show that he understood.

"What happened today?" he asked, as he usually did. Leah frowned.

"We found out why we're here." she replied. Then she lay down on her bed and Jack scrambled to reach his before she called, "Lights out!"

* * *

_A few weeks later…_

"WHAT DO THE TWO OF YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Three-Seven-Two stepped back from Leah and they both looked at Lieutenant Struass. "Taking our break." Leah replied. Struass appeared to turn a brighter shade of red. His shouting had also attracted the attention of a few other Ambers spending their break time in the hallways, though they stopped paying attention when it became clear that there wasn't actually a physical fight going on.

"Take your break, but stop the mouth-touching!"

Three-Seven-Two blinked in confusion. "The kissing?" he asked for clarification.

"That!" Struass agreed. "There is no l-affection here." Three-Seven-Two stepped further back to appease the slug-man, who slid away, still grumbling.

"You notice how he almost said the L-word?" Leah asked with amusement.

"I certainly did." Three-Seven-Two replied with a smirk. "Will saying it warn them of the attack, is that what the Captain thinks?" Leah shrugged.

"Maybe I'll ask him during the med bay inspection." she said sarcastically. "Speaking of which, I'd better get back."

"A little longer?" Three-Seven-Two stole another kiss.

"This is your way of sticking it to your planet's marriage laws, isn't it?" Leah asked when he'd pulled back. Three-Seven-Two smiled crookedly.

"Just a little. I also don't hate you that much." Leah kissed him back.

"And I hate arranged marriage, so I'm quite happy to continue being your instrument." They smiled at each other, both knowing that what the other had said was pretty much the Black Amber equivalent of 'I love you'.

Leah's ring buzzed. She sighed. "I really do have to go."

"All right." He leaned in and gave her one last kiss on the cheek. "Remember to remind Fina about tonight." he whispered.

"Of course."

* * *

That night Jack woke with a hand over his mouth. He mumbled in alarm.

"Quiet." Leah whispered calmly. "Get up, quickly. Bring your _lembas_, crackers." When Jack didn't comply she sighed audibly.

"Look, I can't waste the charge it'll take to carry you around. Walk, or stay here and have to explain where I am in the morning."

Hearing this, Jack got up and warily followed Leah out the door and into the maze of hallways. She was obviously leaving as she was carrying her backpack, which hadn't left their room since they'd arrived.

Jack was baffled by the stone tunnels, he only knew the section that led from their room to the washrooms, but Leah navigated with ease. They reached the end of one tunnel and saw two Ambers fast asleep on either side of the end arch. Leah held a finger to her lips and they quietly snuck past the sleeping guards.

They emerged in a large cavern with a raised stage in the centre. In the almost total dark it was just possible to see the tables that had been folded up along the walls. Leah advanced quickly towards the stage and Jack was only able to keep her in sight because of her ring aura, which flickered around her.

They climbed onto the stage. Leah grabbed onto Jack's hand and pointed her ring into the air above them. "Here it goes." she muttered. A swirling hole of amber light appeared above them and Jack braced himself as Leah flew them into it. Rather than passing out, he felt like his face was peeling off as the tunnel of light rushed past them. When it spat them out his eyes were overwhelmed by green ring auras and about two dozen other different colours. His eyes adjusted just in time to see the large orange alien advancing towards them. Behind it were a few hundred other aliens, with the only similarity between them being the symbol on their green uniforms.

"Hello." Leah said to the assembled members of the Green Lantern Corps. "We're sorry to interrupt you, but Zamaron and the Star Sapphires are going to be attacked in about twelve hours, and they need all the help they can get."


	3. Part 3:Retribution

Part Three: Retribution

"Let me get this straight. You deserted your corps, which is powered by hate, in order to warn us about the attack your leader has planned, which is going to happen later today, even though the attack is to wipe out love, which your corps presumably hates?"

"I don't hate love." Leah replied tersely. The leader of the Green Lantern Corps leaned forwards in his chair and put his head in his hands like he was getting a headache. Leah felt a bit of sympathy for him and quickly added, "The rest is about right though."

Jack laughed once. "I'm pretty sure that's an understatement." Leah resisted the urge to slap him. They were currently sitting around a table in the Green Lantern Corps' outdoor cafeteria. The corps leader had originally wanted them to talk in the underground control room, but Jack's blatant refusal to go back underground unless it was truly necessary in conjunction with a well-timed but totally involuntary bout of morning sickness from Leah made it necessary for them to remain above ground.

Of course, the other two didn't know it was morning sickness, and the corps leader had come close to sending her to their med bay.

Leah sighed. "Look, a lot of us don't want the attack to succeed. We arranged it so that one person from each section can get out and raise an army, I just happened to be the last one out. Didn't know the _Green Lanterns_ would be so difficult to convince." She wrapped her arms around her middle and bit her lip. "Hate to admit it, but we need your help. A handful of us against the rest of our corps won't amount to anything, even if the other five managed to get their armies. We need more ring-slingers, or Zamaron's toast."

She actually did care about the fate of Zamaron. Destroying an entire plant full of civilians did not sit well with her. That the first purpose of the Star Sapphire Corps was to spread love was also a good reason not to let them be destroyed. The Captain didn't know it, but at least a third of his corps was going to fight _with_ the Star Sapphires, not against them.

"Isn't it your job to help people?" Jack asked. "Shouldn't—" The Green Lantern leader held up a hand, cutting him off.

"We'll help." he said, standing. "Everyone who can be spared, including Mogo."

"Thank Cythonna." Leah murmured. Even if the others didn't come back with anything, a sentient planet would at least freak out some Ambers. Speaking of which… "Sorry for throwing up on you." she told the ground. She didn't really expect an answer.

"_Apology accepted."_ Mogo replied. All three of them blinked in surprise.

* * *

Hal Jordan wasn't sure what to do with the two kids. The girl insisted that she was going to fight and the boy said that he wanted to help. They were only kids, so Hal did the only sensible thing.

He introduced them to Kilowog.

Then he left to issue instructions to the rest of the corps.

When he got back the boy was hanging in a net from a tree and the girl was dueling against Kilowog's machine gun construct with a broadsword. A bullet eventually hit her neck and splattered into green goo.

"Not bad poozer." Kilowog dispersed his constructs. The bullet-goo vanished and the boy fell to the grass with a thump after the net disappeared. "You might have lasted longer if you didn't insist on using archaic weaponry."

The girl tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and rolled her eyes. "Normally I would have run you over from behind with a bull elephant, but my ring is almost out of charge."

Hal walked over and stood across from Kilowog. The girl spared him a quick glance, and then walked over to the boy, who was leaning against a tree and rubbing his shoulder. "How did they do?"

Kiliwog shrugged. "The girl's been trained pretty well, certainly up to Corps standards. The boy… I'd like to see what he could do with a ring." Hal nodded, and then he realised something. He turned to the two teens.

"I never asked you your names, did I?"

"Nope." the boy said. The girl shook her head. Hal held his right hand out to each of them in turn. Neither of them refused to shake.

"Hal."

"Leah."

"Jack."

Hal nodded. "Mogo is moving. We'll be near Zamaron in about three hours."

Kilowog clapped Jack on his good shoulder, causing him to stumble forwards. "Just enough time for this poozer to get suited up."

* * *

"Are you sure this will work?" Jack asked. He was staring unblinkingly at the power ring that Hal was holding out to him. Hal sighed.

"We won't know until you put it on. This is the only available ring on all of Mogo that can actually be used in a fight."

Leah muttered something under her breath, but when Hal, Jack, and Kilowog looked at her she mimed zipping her lips. Jack decided to bite the bullet and took the ring from Hal. He put it on and light exploded out of the ring. When it died down Jack looked down at himself and let out a yell.

"What the hell?" Leah exclaimed. Jack tugged, horrified, at his suddenly waist-length hair. The hair extensions had appeared as part of his uniform, which was a violet thing that vaguely resembled a woman's swimsuit, a woman's swimsuit with sleeves that was missing most of its front. Breast implants had also been included, as he filled out the suit to at least a B-cup. The only thing he recognized about himself was his bright indigo aura, which was almost overwhelmed by ring-violet.

"I'm not a girl!" Jack shouted.

'_You're a girl Jacqueline!' _Jack put his hands over his ears. Leah looked at him with concern.

"I'm not!"

Hal and Kiliowog were looking at each other with confusion. Leah shook her head, walked up to Jack, and slapped him right across the face. "Talk to the ring." she told him while he gapped at her.

Jack looked down at the ring. The star shaped symbol seemed to wink at him mockingly. "I'm a boy." he told the ring.

_"Negative."_ replied the ring. _"Your physiology is female."_

_'You're a girl!' _Jack gritted his teeth.

"Being female doesn't mean that I'm a girl." he insisted.

"_That is…true." _the ring said, with a rising tone at the end of the sentence that made it sound like it wasn't sure. _"Re-calibrating uniform in five… four…three…two…one…" _Violet light flashed briefly. When it was gone Jack was back to his normal self, only he was wearing skin-tight black pants, an equally tight violet T-shirt, knee-high black boots, and a violet armband around his left bicep. The shirt and the armband both had a white star symbol on them. He thought he felt a mask over his eyes, but he couldn't be sure.

"That is a lot better." Leah said. "Can you work your ring? Hint: It's powered by love." Jack didn't need Leah to tell him that. He had figured it out the second he put on the ring and felt the overwhelming urge to kiss her. More overwhelming than usual, considering he'd been in love with her for four years.

* * *

Leah watched statically as Jack created a few simple constructs with his ring. A fist, a staff, a wall. When he created a domed shield around himself Leah decided to do a demonstration of her own. As Jack tried to make the flimsy-looking dome stronger, even though it was probably plenty strong, Leah stepped forward at let a blast of light out of her ring. The blast tore right through the shield and sent Jack flying across the room. Hal had to quickly catch him with a hand construct so that he didn't slam into a rack of ray guns.

"…and that is why giving him a Star Sapphire ring is useless." Leah said as if they had been in the middle of a conversation.

Hal shook his head. "I didn't think violet was weak to anything. Guess we can start the list with amber."

Leah shrugged. "That's why the Captain chose it." She opened up a crack in the space in front of her and reached into her ring's pocket dimension. She grabbed hold of her personal Power Battery. "I have to charge." she said once she'd extracted the battery. She looked at Jack, who was blinking rapidly. "You should find a cave or something for him to bunker in. Amber's don't pull punches."

She walked outside. About an hour after she charged her ring, Kilowog came to find her. They were nearing Zamaron and Hal wanted all Lanterns together to receive final orders. Leah grinned.

She was ready for a fight.

* * *

At the Black Amber base, Three-Seven-Two was giving orders to his troops. As of five days before he was officially a six-stripe; and was one of the Lieutenants leading a few hundred Ambers into battle. He was mostly on autopilot because he knew the battle plan backwards and forwards, but he did make sure to make brief eye contact with every member of the resistance among his fighters. Each Lieutenant was leading Ambers from their section of the moon, so Three-Seven-Two knew every face.

"Do what you have to do." he finished. "And at least try not to get yourself killed." The generally angry Ambers cheered savagely, while the outwardly calm Ambers nodded in understanding. The resistance had more clam Ambers than angry ones, because they could actually meet each other without getting into shouting matches.

While they were waiting for the Captain to signal the start of the attack, Three-Seven-Two looked around at the Ambers nearby and tried to figure out who would be on their side when the resistance fighters turned. He tried not to think about the six Ambers who had deserted, on the pretense of going back to their home world, in order to raise armies. The signal bouncing order that one of the other resistance members had come up with was working, he had tried to locate Leah before the morning meal and his ring had said that she was on Earth, but he was still worried that their plan hadn't worked and that the deserters had been captured. The Captain _had_ seemed angry that they'd left, which was a good thing because he was the type to gloat if they'd been captured.

He had, after all, spouted out his entire reason for creating the Black Amber Corps only an hour after the last Amber had arrived.

The Captain didn't have a loving bone in his body. It wasn't that he had never been loved, his own mother was a Star Sapphire, it was that he didn't want love to exist. He hated love, he hated Zamaron, and he wanted to destroy them both. He didn't even have a reason, except for that he was annoyed by all the love that had surrounded him all through his childhood.

Leah had come up with a better reason, that he was insane and twisted. Three-Seven-Two wondered what his mother though of his ambition.

A gong sounded and the first wave of attackers flew out of the moon. After a few minutes the gong sounded again and the second wave was released. Another minute later and the third and final wave flew out into space. The first wave headed straight for Zamaron, beginning the attack on the planet's surface. The second wave dove into the plant's atmosphere and hovered in the sky, waiting for any Star Sapphire's that came their way. The third wave, the wave that Three-Seven-Two's troops were part of, surrounded the planet, creating a barrier of Ambers that would not let any spacecraft escape Zamaron.

The third wave was the first to notice the attack against them. From the 'dark side' of Xochiquetzal, Zamaron's first moon, a fleet of Tamaraian battleships emerged. Lieutenant Struass, also part of wave three, let out a shout that cut off prematurely when one of the ships blasted him with a stunner. Another fleet of battleships appeared, probably having come by lightspeed straight from Xanthu. The most obvious form of protection for Zamaron came in the form of a giant planet that was flanked by Green Lantern Corpsmen.

One of the resistance members turned to Three-Seven-Two with a sly smile. "Is that our signal, Lieutenant?" she asked innocently. Three-Seven-Two grinned.

"It certainly is, Cadet."

The resistors of wave three rose up, and the other Black Ambers didn't stand a chance.

* * *

The cells on Mogo were completely full. The mostly unconscious Black Amber Corps members were packed in five to a cell, and it was only information from the Ambers who had fought for Zamaron that greatly minimized the possibility of the cells being destroyed.

Even without rings, if an Amber hated someone, they were likely to attack them, never mind any destruction that might occur to their environment.

"That's the last one." Kiliowog informed Hal.

"Thank goodness." Hal grumbled. "How many of them are there?"

"One thousand eight hundred." a voice said. Hal turned to see a young Numericonian male standing next to Leah.

"Give or take about a hundred." Leah added. The Numericonian groaned at the numerical inaccuracy. Leah gave a wry smile in response.

"Who are you?" Hal asked the boy.

"Call me Three-Seven-Two." he replied. He and Hal shook hands.

"Three-Seven-Two is kind of in charge now." Leah said. "There was a really quick vote…Anyway, we figured that you'd want to talk."

They had figured correctly. Hal and Three-Seven-Two went above ground to the river where Saint Walker usually landed when he came to visit. Leah stood with Kilowog for a few moments before excusing herself and heading to the med bay to help with the wounded. Kilowog stood among the cells for a little longer before he suddenly remembered something and rushed to the surface.

He had to get Jack out of that cave.

* * *

_Weeks later…_

"The last of the former Ambers were shipped out today," Three-Seven-Two said to the 1804 Black Ambers assembled on the surface of Mogo. "And the hostages were returned to their homes the day after the battle. Now we have to decide, what are we going to do? Technically, we're criminals. The former Ambers are getting punished, shouldn't we?"

Surprisingly, this pronouncement didn't incite much anger. The Ambers started talking. A few of them wanted to stay on Mogo, sure that they would face harsh penalties if they returned to their homeworlds. Others thought that they should go back to their base in Frua and make peace with the Star Sapphires. There were plenty of ideas. The conversations started getting louder, and more like arguments, and soon Three-Seven-Two called for order.

"One at a time, are there any suggestions?"

Fina cleared her throat. "I think that we should go back to our home planets and see what sort of reception we get. We can come back to Mogo if it's bad." The Ambers made noises of willingness. Leah raised her hand and all eyes turned to her. Even some of Mogo's wild animals looked at the gathering.

"Jack, my hostage, he's a Star Sapphire now." Leah started. "He and Hal could plead our case with the Star Sapphires and Zamaron, and maybe we could go back to our base. If not, we could try to move the Central Power Battery somewhere else. We don't have to disband the corps; we just have to change how it's run."

The Ambers looked around at each other. They were a team, if nothing else. They may hate everyone, but they still managed to pull themselves together to save Zamaron from the Captain.

"Why don't we do both?" a winged Amber suggested. "We can go back to our homes and then meet on Mogo once we've cleaned up whatever mess we left behind. After we're all here we can go to Frua and decide what to do with the corps."

"I second that motion!" a six-legged male said.

"I third it!"

"Let's do it." Three-Seven-Two agreed. "If Mogo doesn't mind." All of the Ambers looked down at the ground.

_"I don't mind." _Mogo said. _"You're not such a bad bunch." _

"We're not a bunch." Leah said, scandalized. "We're a corps!"

"The Black Amber Corps!" Fina shouted.

"The Black Amber Corps!" all the Ambers cheered back.

* * *

"You ready to go?" Jack asked. Leah bit her lip.

"Almost. I'm just looking for Three-e!" her sentence ended in a shriek as Three-Seven-Two scooped her up from behind and flew into the air. She laughed and slapped him. "Put me down you!" Three-Seven-Two swooped down and placed her on her feet.

"I think that's the first time he's snuck up on you." Jack remark dryly. He saw Leah's eyes flick over his shoulder and quickly turned around, coming nose to nose with Fina. He let out a scream and jumped backwards. The three Ambers laughed.

"Totally worth it." Leah chuckled.

"How long have you been planning that for?" Jack groaned. Three-Seven-Two shrugged.

"A few hours? Hal wanted me to tell you that you had to wait for a "super-man" to escort you home. I figured I may as well have fun with it." Jack rolled his eyes. Despite everything, everything meaning the fact that Three-Seven-Two was dating Leah, Jack could not bring himself to dislike him. It wasn't his ring influencing him either; Three-Seven-Two was just a likable person. Jack blinked as what Three-Seven-Two said clicked.

"_Superman_ is coming to get us!?" Jack shouted so loudly that the other Ambers and Lanterns who were around them couldn't ignore him.

"Everyone else is getting a Green Lantern escort." said Two-Six, a Numericonian girl who was part of the Green Lantern Corps. "But we aren't allowed in Space Sector 2814, so alternate arrangements had to be made."

Jack massaged his temples. "It's too early for this." he decided. He turned away from Two-Six and was then greeted by the sight of Leah and Three-Seven-Two kissing. "Way too early."

They remained standing together while they waited. Fina was one of the first to leave, escorted by a fellow Daxamite. The number of people on Mogo's surface gradually dwindled as Green Lanterns headed back to their sectors, taking Black Ambers with them. Soon only Jack, Leah, Three-Seven-Two and Two-Six were left. Three-Seven-Two and Two-Six were only still there because Three-Seven-Two intended to be the last to leave.

"He probably had to stop to fight Two-Face and Parasite with Batman or something like that." Leah speculated. "Do you think you'd count as an escort?" Jack shrugged.

"You did kidnap me, so probably not."

Leah's mouth was on the verge of twitching into a smile when she put a hand to her stomach. She quickly turned away from the group and threw up beside a nearby bush. Three-Seven-Two carefully held her short hair out of her face. Of course, that was when Superman showed up. He tactfully didn't say anything until Leah stopped retching.

"Good morning." Superman said nonchalantly. Leah wiped her mouth with a leaf.

"It's definitely morning." she agreed. "Good? That I'm not sure about."

"You're Superman?" Three-Seven-Two asked. Superman nodded to him. Then he looked at Leah and Jack.

"Are you ready to go home?"

* * *

Guy Gardner joined them sometime after they passed Jupiter. Superman was the first to spot the Red Lantern leader.

"Good afternoon, Guy."

"Afternoon Sups." Guy eyed Jack, who was having a little trouble flying against a sudden solar wind. "Earth has another Star Sapphire now?" Jack shrugged.

"I haven't really been thinking about that." he admitted. "I'm actually more worried about catching up with schoolwork."

Superman looked at Leah, expecting to see her nodding in agreement. Instead, she bit her lip and briefly touched a hand to her stomach. "What are you going to do?" he asked her. She looked at him, just hiding her alarm.

"Try not to go to jail for kidnapping?" she replied harshly. "What else can I do?"

"Tell the father." Superman said quietly. If someone could screech to a halt while flying in outer space, then Leah screeched to a halt. Jack didn't seem to notice as he was talking with Guy about motorcycles, something they evidently were both very interested in.

"How…?"

"X-ray vision." Leah groaned.

"I can't tell. He…he killed the last one."

Superman didn't know how to reply to that. He noticed Leah's face beginning to turn red and angry tears collecting in the corners of her eyes.

"I HATE him!" she shouted, drawing the attention of Guy and Jack. "I hate him, I hate him, and I wish he were dead!" Leah then began crying. Her tears froze as soon as they dropped off her face and she soon had many slivers of ice orbiting around her. Superman was the first one to regain his wits. He put an arm around Leah and suggested that they stop on Mars so that everyone could get some rest. When they landed on the Red Planet, Leah sat down on a rock and put her face in her hands. After a few moments she sighed brokenly and looked up at the other three.

"I need help."

* * *

Leah talked, the other three listened, and by the end Guy was angry enough to pick a fight with Batman.

"She's just a kid." he muttered angrily to Superman.

"I know." Superman answered. "I can't believe—"

"I'm gonna kill that guy." Superman sighed and didn't reply to any of Guy's further mutterings. They landed in Empire City British Columbia at around one in the morning and just made time for Jack to turn his Star Sapphire uniform to normal clothes before going to the nearest police station. The constable behind the desk looked up as they entered, and turned pale when he saw Guy and Superman.

"Ack…what…how…?" he babbled. Jack stepped forwards and the constable's focus turned to him.

"Hi, I'm Jack Turok. According to Superman my parents filed a missing person report around March 15th. Oh, and this is Leah Jenkinson, she's the one who kidnapped me."

The poor constable didn't seem to know what to do. So, he fainted. Guy rolled his eyes and went behind the desk. "I've got this." he told them. "I've been arrested enough times."

Guy worked the phone and managed to call Leah's mother and Jack's parents before other police officers came into the hallway and asked what the hell he was doing. They immediately took over and soon Leah was sitting next to an officer's desk handcuffed to the chair, Guy was lurking in a corner of the room keeping an eye on everything that happened, and Jack was being mobbed by his older sisters, who had driven over as soon as they were called. Superman had been called away, either by his cousin or the Justice League, he wasn't very clear.

A woman with short grey hair and warm brow skin burst into the police station. When Leah saw her she tried to stand up, but wasn't actually able to go anywhere because the station was crowded enough that she couldn't drag the chair behind her. "Mom!" The woman looked towards Leah and then literally pushed through the milling officers to get to her. They threw their arms around each other. This drew the attention of Officer Mills, who was in charge of their case.

"Excuse me, mam. Are you Mrs. Delagdo?" Leah's mother looked up at him.

"Certainly not! Maria Delagdo is five years younger than me and she looks it. I'm Rachel Jenkinson , Leah's mother." Officer Mills looked down at some of the papers in the file he was carrying.

"I'm sorry mam, but the Delagdo's are listed as her primary caregivers."

Mrs. Jenkinson blinked and opened and closed her mouth. "Well, uh…" She was saved from answering by the door to the station banging open and a man in a suit storming in with a burly security guard behind him.

"Leah!" the man shouted when he spotted her. Guy was sure that he was Mr. Ivo Delagdo, which was an unfortunate name to have thanks to one Professor Ivo. Guy used all his willpower to not strangle the man where he stood and waited for Jack to make his move.

Jack blocked the path of the man and asked him exactly who he was. Officer Mills coughed and said, "Mr. Turok, I believe that is my job."

"Sorry."

Officer Mills faced the man. "As Mr. Turok has already asked, who are you?" The man brushed off his suit and held out his hand to the officer.

"I am Ivo Delagdo. I'm the CEO of Delagdo Incorporated." Mr. Delagdo gave a winning smile and slowly withdrew his hand as Officer Mills refused a handshake.

"Mr. Delagdo." he said dryly. "Wasn't it your company that was responsible for the explosions in the Lots last year?"

Mr. Delagdo waved him off. "If you'll remember, my boy, those explosions were ruled an accident." He took a chequebook out of his pocket and clicked his pen. "Now, how much is bail? I don't have all day." Without waiting for an answer, he started writing out a check. The guy acted like a Richie Rich, but Guy was sure that if his assets were compared with those of Wayne Enterprises or Queen Industries, well, there couldn't even be a comparison.

One of Jack's sisters whispered something to the other, who nodded in agreement. They walked over to Mrs. Jenkinson, who appeared to be wilting, and led her out of Mr. Delagdo's firing line.

"Mr. Delagdo, Ms. Jenkinson hasn't been charged with anything." Mr. Delagdo stopped writing and looked up at Officer Mills from the desk that he was writing on.

"Hasn't she? Good. We'll be leaving now. Leah, let's go."

Leah held up her arm, showing off her handcuff. Then she said, "I'd rather be charged with murder than go anywhere with you."

Jack coughed loudly, making everyone look at him. "Leah, you haven't killed anyone."

"Yet." In one move Leah broke the chain of her handcuff, stood up, and pointed her ring at Mr. Delagdo. Spear, knife, and arrow constructs formed all around him. The officers and Mr. Delagdo's bodyguard got over their shock and reacted by pointing their guns at Leah. Officer Mills was the only one not to.

"Stand down!" Officer Mills shouted. A few of the officers listened to him, but only a few. "Leah, would you care to explain?"

Leah snarled. "What's there to explain? He's a controlling, wife-beating, raping, murdering, pedophile who uses threats and payoffs to get his way!" Her proclamation sent the police station into a frenzy that only died down when Guy created a construct of a gun and fired off three blanks, and left Guy wondering who exactly had trained the _poozers_.

"Shut up, and let her explain!" Jack exclaimed.

"That won't be necessary." a woman said. Officer Mills turned to look for the woman and turned pale when he saw her.

"Commissioner!" he squeaked. The woman nodded to him.

"Officer Mills." she looked distastefully at Mr. Delagdo. "Please arrest this man."

* * *

_CEO of Delagdo Incorporated Accused of MURDER_

_Ivo Delagdo was arrested on Monday on allegations of murder and rape, among others. The accuser, who is unnamed due to her status as a minor, told Police Commissioner Oteri that Delagdo had raped her "every gods-dammed day" since she was ten and that he'd used threats against her family to stop her from telling anyone. She also believes that Delagdo is responsible for the death of her father. Further victims have come forward and the Commissioner expects Delagdo to be charged with no less than ten counts of assault, fifteen counts of sexual assault, and one count of attempted murder. _

_Mr. Delagdo is denying all charges, and has hired lawyer Eleanor Shaw to defend him should he be taken to court._

_Delagdo continued on page 3. _

_For more on Eleanor Shaw go to page 5._

* * *

"I never did thank you for not pressing charges."

Leah and Jack were in his sister Ellen's apartment working on the giant packages they needed to complete in order to move on to grade twelve in September. Leah was five months pregnant, and looked it, so Ellen had suggested that they work at her place rather than at the library like they normally would.

Jack measured an angle and erased the number that he'd written down for radiance. "Don't mention it. It wouldn't be fair. Besides, I wouldn't have gotten this if you hadn't kidnapped me." He raised his hand that had his Star Sapphire ring on it. He had been allowed to keep the ring, purely because Hal and Kilowog had decided that it was better for him to have it rather than risking it falling into the wrong hands.

Leah looked down at her own ring and smiled. "The rings are great, aren't they? I went to Australia the other day, just because, and I could understand languages that I don't even know about." Jack nodded in agreement. He had flown to Nunavut when he couldn't sleep the night before and had, unintentionally, done the same.

They worked quietly for a time before Jack spoke again. "How are you doing? You know, with the whole court thing?" Mr. Delagdo was going to court in a few months' time, as soon as they managed to find a jury that wasn't connected to him in any way. They'd probably have to bring people in from different provinces, because it seemed like everyone in BC had had some sort of agreement or altercation with him. Leah, her mother, Mrs. Delagdo, and most of the Delagdo House maids were going to testify against him.

Leah frowned. "He had my father, his business partner, killed and would have raped his own daughter if he hadn't taken me. I just want this to end with him behind bars for the rest of his life."

When Ellen and Jenna, Jack's sisters, had heard Leah's story, they had had the same reaction as Jack had. With Leah and Mrs. Delagdo at the head of the line, Ivo Delagdo would probably end up stabbed more than Julius Caesar if he _didn't_ get sent to jail.

"He has a daughter?"

"Regina Delagdo. Jack, she's three years younger than us. The man's a monster."

Leah's ring began vibrating. She listened to it. "Call allowed." A flat rectangle construct, like a computer screen, hovered in front of her face. Three-Seven-Two waved. When he spoke it sounded a bit like he was underwater. Jack was a little jealous of this aspect of the Black Amber rings. Star Sapphire rings did not have video calling.

"Hello." Three-Seven-Two said. "I just wanted to let you know that I made it to Mogo alright."

"That's good. You didn't get arrested on your way out?"

"Surprisingly, no. Two-Six took my side, which probably helped. And, while I was gone, some of my youth group managed to get the government to review the betrothal law, so we can't get arrested for protesting against that anymore."

"That's great!" Leah gestured for Jack to join her. He put his pencil down and sat beside her. He and Three-Seven-Two greeted each other. "Are we the last?" Leah asked. Three-Seven-Two shook his head.

"Fina, Calder, a bunch of others still haven't arrived."

Leah smiled wryly. "Well, I probably won't get there for a long time. I'm going to be in the middle of a legal storm in a few weeks, so I'm stuck on Earth."

"I'm not going to be free any sooner than you are." Jack pointed out.

"That's alright." Three-Seven-Two told them. "Everyone's learning a lot from the Greens, and we've got some ideas for how to run things once we've got our base back."

They talked for a little longer, and then Three-Seven-Two had to say goodbye. He was joining one of the fighting classes for the Green Lantern recruits, and he couldn't be late. "Try not to get too beaten up." Leah joked.

They tried to get back to work after Three-Seven-Two called, but after only a few minutes, the phone rang. Jack answered, and then held the phone away from his ear as Ellen shouted for him to turn on the news RIGHT NOW. Leah heard and fumbled for the TV remote.

The blond News 52 anchor spoke shakily as she spoke. She was informing the continent that a Kryptonite bomb had been set off by the U.S. military in order to weaken Superman, who was now Public Enemy Number One.

"Good grief." Jack groaned. He wondered if the U.S. military had even realized that Kryptonite was radioactive. "Do you think that can reach us here?" Leah shrugged. Then she yelped. "What is it?"

Leah smiled. "The baby." she replied.

"It kicked."

THE END

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own any DC characters that you recognize. Nor do I own "Lord of the Rings", "Macbeth" or any other stories that I made reference to during this story.

A/n: That's it. Only one month after I wanted to finish it. Hope you enjoyed it!

-Cynder2013


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